Front wall module

ABSTRACT

Described is a front wall module for a motor vehicle. The front wall module forms at least one area of a front wall that defines the passenger compartment of the motor vehicle. The front wall module contains functional units, such as a fan for ventilating the passenger compartment or the like. The front wall module has a capping piece that is connected to two longitudinal beams of the motor vehicle.

The present invention relates to a front wall module for a motor vehicleas well as to a motor vehicle.

With the manufacture of motor vehicles it is usual for the vehicle tocomprise a self-supporting vehicle body, wherein the vehicle body, fordelimiting the vehicle interior seen in the direction of travel,comprises a so-called “front wall” which e.g. is designed as a sheetsteel piece belonging to the vehicle body. Such a sheet steel piece atits upper end is usually connected to a hollow beam (a so-called “windowbow”) which is arranged above the front wall and which represents thelower connection surface for a windscreen of the motor vehicle.

This usual constructional shape has the advantage that a vehicle bodymay be premanufactured in an essentially fluid-tight manner and with arigid structure. However it is of a disadvantage that the functionalunits in the region of the front wall, such as a fan for interiorventilation, parts of the vehicles electronics, etc. need to beindividually assembled on the front wall in a very expensive manner. Dueto this, extensive costs result during manufacture and the exchange ofindividual functional units is likewise very cost-intensive.

The British patent GB 2329363A specifies a front wall module for a motorvehicle. This forms the upper region of a front wall delimiting theinterior of the motor vehicle. This front wall module in its inside, asa functional unit, comprises a fan for interior ventilation.

This known front wall module specifically has the advantage that itreduces the manufacturing expense, since functional units which arealready modularly premanufactured may be incorporated into the motorvehicle. The disadvantage however is the fact that this concept fallsshort of the high safety demands. Furthermore on assembly, the bringingof the known front wall module through the vehicle interior into theregion of the front wall can become somewhat of a problem.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a front wall modulefor motor vehicles, and a motor vehicle which may be manufactured andrepaired with little expense, wherein however the high safety demandsare met.

This object is achieved by a front wall module according to claim 1 aswell by a motor vehicle according to claim 15.

An inexpensive and secure concept is made available by way of the factthat a front wall module according to the preamble additionallycomprises a yoke beam which may be connected to two longitudinal beamsof the motor vehicle.

Deviating from the previously hardened vehicle concepts, an additionalbeam is integrated into the front wall module, which significantlyincreases the stiffness of the vehicle body in the region of the frontwall. By way of this, part of the stability task of the previously usualhollow beam may be assumed in the upper as well as lower region of thefront wall, so that a greater design freedom for the vehicle as a wholearises.

By way of this it is also possible, also with smaller vehicledimensions, to obtain an as large as possible vehicle interior, whichmay be fashioned in a practically infinite manner. By way of theattachment of the yoke beam according to the invention to the (usuallytwo) longitudinal beams which run in the longitudinal direction on theouter sides of the vehicle body, an even better passive safety of themotor vehicle is ensured. This on the one hand relates to the side crashbehaviour, since the lateral deformability of the motor vehicle (andthus the pressing together of the motor vehicle interior from the side)is reduced due to the yoke beam. Furthermore the frontal crash behaviouris improved, since a penetration of the front wall module into theinterior of the motor vehicle is prevented.

Furthermore, the yoke beam according to the invention contributes to thetorsional stiffness of the motor vehicle about the longitudinal axis,and the travelling comfort and long-term stability of the vehicle bodyis further improved on account of this.

Advantageous formations of the invention are specified in the dependentclaims.

A particularly advantageous embodiment envisages the yoke beam beingconnectable to the remaining front wall module with a non-positive fit,e.g. via screws. For this, the yoke beam may be manufactured in a simplemanner of a very stable material (e.g. a profiled sheet steel) and maybe e.g. screwed to the remaining front wall module in a simple manner.This is particularly easily possible on the outer side of the front wallmodule, thus towards the motor space with front motor vehicles. By wayof a possible separation of the yoke beam and the remaining front wallmodule it is also possible, for various series of vehicles, to couple ineach case only the different yoke beams but otherwise unchanged equalfront wall modules to one another. By way of the non-positive connection(preferably screw connection, additionally a bonding may be useful undercertain circumstances for sealing), it furthermore becomes possible toachieve a simple separability in the case of repair without e.g. havingto worry about damage to the paintwork as occurs on welding (withsubsequent corrosion problems). It is of course however also possible toenvisage any positive-fit or material-fit joining method (in particularbonding).

A further advantageous embodiment envisages the yoke beam being able tobe connected to the longitudinal beams of the motor vehicle with anon-positive fit, preferably via screws. This is advantageous with themanufacture of the vehicle as well as on exchange of the front wallmodule. It is possible in a relatively late stage of the motor vehicleproduction for the front wall module to be completely (and specifically“from above”) inserted from the region of the motor space (with frontmotors). Here, welding is not necessary and vehicle paintwork is notdamaged. At the same time it is particularly favourable that thelongitudinal beams of the motor vehicle offer an attachment surface forthe yoke beam. Under certain circumstances it is possible to weldsuitable attachments on the longitudinal beams during the prior vehiclebody manufacture, which offer an additional stability in the connectionregion. By way of such attachments it furthermore becomes easilypossible, e.g. with front wall modules with a uniform yoke beam size, toaccommodate one and the same front wall module (with identical yokebeams) in various sized vehicle bodies by way of varying theattachments. It is of course also possible here apart from thenon-positive fit connection indicated as being advantageous here, toprovide positive-fit or material fit connections, in particular bonding.

A particularly advantageous further embodiment envisages severalfunctional units being accommodated in the front wall module. This e.g.may be one (or several) fans for interior ventilation, an interior airfilter, a heating body for interior ventilation, an evaporator of anair-conditioning installation, an air channel system, a control unit forthe electronic control of elements in the interior of the motor vehicle,a cable loom connected to the control unit, an airbag or likewise.

It thus becomes possible to connect these individual functional units toone another within the front wall module already during premanufactureof the vehicle. A particularly advantageous further embodiment envisagesthe front wall module comprising so-called “collectors” which areconnected to the cable loom or to the control unit. These collectors mayserve as electrical interfaces between the front wall module and theremaining motor vehicle (thus e.g. with elements of the motorelectronics, door locking, lighting etc.). These collectors may e.g. beattached to the lateral outer sides of the front wall module. By way ofthis a particularly easy connection for standardised data buses to thecollectors becomes possible, and by way of a simple exchange of thecollectors, an electrical or electronic connection of the front wallmodule to various model series becomes possible.

A further, particularly advantageous further embodiment envisages thefront wall module having a cavity construction with an outer casing(covering), wherein the outer casing is formed by a front wall innerpart which is directed towards the motor vehicle interior, and a frontwall outer part which is distant to the motor vehicle interior. Due tothis it becomes possible for the individual functional units to beaccommodated in the inside of the front wall module and on the one handto be protected from damp and moisture influences etc., and on the otherhand the passive safety is increased in that these functional units donot represent any danger to the vehicle passengers in the case of acollision. Within the concept of a simple manufacturability or repairability, one may provide a “layered construction”, wherein individualfunctional units as “sub-modules” are layered between the front wallouter part and inner part. With such a shell-like cockpit constructionthe individual functional units such as an air conditioning installationunit may be incorporated into the front wall module alreadypremanufactured. In this manner, with special fittings to the motorvehicle one may also simply realise different customer wishes duringmanufacture, or these may be retrofitted at a later point in time.

Further advantageous embodiments furthermore envisage the front wallmodule itself contributing to the stiffening and improvement of thesafety of the vehicle. Thus e.g. the front wall outer part and/or thefront wall inner part may be connected as a hybrid part of metal withplastic connected thereto (e.g. in a honeycomb construction manner). Asimple manufacturability is provided on account of this, a separation ofthe material on reuse is simplified and the manufacturing costs are low.Furthermore it is also possible to provide further supporting parts e.g.a hollow beam in the upper region of the front wall module which hereassumes the function of a “window bow”. By way of the fact that in thiscase the shell of the motor vehicle does not need to contain an alreadypreviously fixed window bow, an even simpler assembly of the front wallmodule is possible (“from above”, thus not necessarily from the vehicleinterior).

At the same time it is becomes possible to already accommodate a “waterbox” for collecting fluid running down from the motor vehiclewindscreen, on the front wall module, which e.g. may already containwindscreen wiper motors etc.

The front wall module according to the invention may be applied invarious vehicle types. For obtaining a particularly large space for thefeet for the vehicle passengers, it is useful to attach the front wallmodule for filling out in the upper region of the front wall, wherein asheet steel composite which is profiled or provided with cavities isprovided only in the lower front wall region. In particular, for future“drive by wire” applications it is useful to provide a receiver for asteering column for controlling the motor vehicle on the inner frontwall part of the front wall module. By way of this, the steering unit isde facto separated from the shell. Alone by way of the provision ofdifferent front wall modules during manufacture, one may realise aright-hand or left-hand drive vehicle. A later retrofitting is alsoeasily possible.

Further advantageous further formations of the present invention arespecified in the other dependent claims.

The invention is explained by way of several Figures. There are shownin:

FIGS. 1 a to 1 d several sections through a front wall module accordingto the invention, in a motor vehicle,

FIG. 2 a perspective front view of a part of a motor vehicle accordingto the invention,

FIG. 3 an exploded drawing of the individual parts of the front wallmodule according to the invention, in a vehicle,

FIGS. 4 a to 4 r individual parts of a front wall module according tothe invention.

FIG. 1 a shows a cross section through a motor vehicle, with a frontwall module according to the invention. A lateral cross section in theregion of the driver seat is shown.

In the following the front wall module 1 is dealt with in more detail.

25 This forms the upper region of a motor vehicle front wall whichdelimits the motor vehicle interior in the travelling direction. A front[wind] screen 22 borders the front wall module 1 to the top, and towardsthe bottom there connects a vehicle floor 2 c as well as a reinforcementof the vehicle floor 2 d which belong to a shell of the motor vehicleand form the lower region of the front wall of the vehicle. The frontwall module forms the upper region. The front wall module at its sidewhich is directed towards a motor space and is distant to the motorvehicle interior comprises a yoke beam 20 which by way of screwconnections connects two longitudinal beams of the motor vehicle runningon the longitudinal sides of the vehicle to one another. The yoke beam20 is connected with a non-positive fit (screwed) to the remaining frontwall module. The remaining front wall module contains a front wall outerpart 21 to which the yoke beam 20 is screwed.

The front wall outer part 21 as well as a front wall inner part 6 areconnected to one another and form a cavity construction with an outercasing, wherein the outer casing is formed by the inner front wall part6 directed towards the motor vehicle interior, and the outer front wallpart 21 distant to the motor vehicle interior.

Several functional units are accommodated within the cavity, and theirfunction and arrangement will be dealt with in more detail later. Hereit is the case e.g. of a filter 15 in a filter box 16, a fan 10, a cableloom 17, a defroster channel 8, an air channel system 7. The fan 10 isarranged in a layer-like construction between an air-conditioninginstallation front wall 9 and an air-conditioning installation rear wall11 which will likewise be described in more detail later. To the motorvehicle interior, a steering column 5 via which the motor vehicle may beelectrically controlled, connects to the front wall inner part 6.Alternatively or additionally it is of course also possible to provide ahydraulic or mechanical steering force transmission.

A water box (chamber) 19 is attached to the upper side of the front wallmodule and this water box likewise belongs to the front wall module andcollects liquid running down from the front [wind]screen 22 of the motorvehicle. The water box 19 as well as the front wall outer part 21 in theupper region of the front wall module, thus in the connection region tothe front [wind]screen 22 form a hollow beam 24 for stabilising thefront wall module in the region of the front windscreen of the motorvehicle. In this manner one realises an upper transverse beam, aso-called “window bow”. It is however also possible for the vehicle bodyin this region to envisage an additional transverse beam for theconnection of both A-columns.

The front wall module 1 is screwed to the vehicle body 2 of the motorvehicle. Apart from a lateral screwing in the region of the A-columns,amongst other things a screwing in the region 25 towards the vehiclefloor is also given.

FIG. 1 b shows a cross section through a motor vehicle according to theinvention, which is parallel to that in FIG. 1 a. The same referencenumerals as drawn in FIG. 1 a here show the same elements so that adescription is not made again to save repetition. A control unit 3 isshown on the lower side of the front wall module in FIG. 1 b and thisunit is electrically connected to the cable loom 17.

FIG. 1 c again shows a parallel section to the FIGS. 1 a and 1 b. Asection in the region of the front passenger seat is shown. On the upperside of the front wall inner part 6 there is attached an airbag 4 whichis covered towards the motor vehicle interior by way of a dashboardwhich is not shown.

FIG. 1 d shows a horizontal section through the front wall moduleaccording to the invention, at the height of the steering column.

Here one may recognise particularly well that the front wall moduleaccording to the invention, advancing from the left to the right, has alayered construction.

Beginning from the left one may firstly recognise a yoke beam 20. This,as may already be seen by way of viewing together the FIGS. 1 a to 1 c,has an arch-like course (with the highest point in the middle of thevehicle). In cross section, the yoke beam 20 is essentially “U” shapedand comprises reinforcement webs which are distanced to one another. Theyoke beam 20 is screwed to the front wall outer part 21. This front wallouter part 21 on its outer side has a metal skin which on the inner sideis reinforced by a honey-comb-like plastic structure. An insulation 18connects to this. Proceeding to the right then a filter box 16 with afilter 15 contained therein (in each case on each vehicle side) isattached. Subsequently, but not seen here, a cable loom (indicated at 17in FIG. 1 c) is arranged which is connected to collectors 14 on the leftand on the right vehicle side. These collectors represent electricalinterfaces between the front wall module and the remaining vehicle. Theyserve e.g. for the attachment to the electronics of the motor, to a doorlocking, to a lighting etc. Also a connection, preferably a screwing ofthe front wall module to the A-columns of the motor vehicle takes placein the region of these collectors. The collectors may be matched intheir size or interface definition to individual vehicle types. Thusvarious collectors may be combined for one and the same front wall outerpart.

In FIG. 1 d, proceeding further to the right, as a next location, theair-conditioning installation rear wall 11 is shown, which forms acavity with the air-conditioning installation front wall 9 which isincorporated further to the right. A blower 10, an evaporator for theair-conditioning installation 12 as well as a heating body 13 areattached in this cavity on each vehicle side. On the right, connectingto the air-conditioning installation front wall 9, are defrosterchannels 8 (see FIG. 1 c) as well as an air channel system 7 for airdistribution in the inner space of the motor vehicle. Connecting to thisis a front wall inner part 7 on which the steering column 5 is fastened.In FIG. 3 one may see that the front wall inner part 6 is provided withan outer skin towards the motor vehicle interior, in which discharge[piece] 27, a middle console 28 and a steering column covering 29 areassembled.

It is to be mentioned that by way of the intermediate connection ofconnection pieces on the front wall module according to the invention itbecomes possible to adapt the front wall module according to theinvention to different vehicle body widths.

FIG. 2 shows perspectively views of an assembled front wall module on avehicle body 2 of a motor vehicle.

The yoke beam 20 is screwed to the front wall part 21 of the front wallmodule. The yoke beam 20 is again screwed to a longitudinal beam 2 a ofthe motor vehicle. For reasons of clarity, in FIG. 2 only a singlelongitudinal beam is shown, a longitudinal beam parallel to this is alsolocated on the right vehicle side according to FIG. 2, but however isnot shown there. The longitudinal beam 2 a on its upper side comprisesan adapter 2 b which belongs to the longitudinal beam and which servesfor the simple joining to the yoke beam 20. Screw holes 27 are likewiseeasily recognised in FIG. 2 which serve for the screwing of the frontwall module to the region of the A-columns of a motor vehicle or to theregion of the lower front wall formed by the vehicle body parts 2 c and2 d.

In the following, the individual components of the subject mattersaccording to the invention are dealt with taking reference to theexploded drawing according to FIG. 3, which are specified in FIGS. 4 ato 4 r.

In FIG. 3 there is shown a vehicle body 2 with a vehicle floor 2 c aswell as a reinforcement of the vehicle floor 2 d and a longitudinal beam2 a projecting to the front. A more detailed view with regard to this isto be deduced from FIG. 4 a (in FIG. 4 a in particular also the adapter2 b belonging to the longitudinal beam 2 a is shown, which later may bescrewed to the yoke beam 20). The upper front wall region which is openin FIG. 4 a (indicated in FIG. 4 a by the circled reference numeral 33)is closed by the front wall module 1. This front wall module 1 whilstforming the front wall, on its side distant to the motor vehicleinterior comprises a front wall outer part 21 (see FIG. 3). The frontwall outer part 21 is constructed as a hybrid part. It consists of asheet metal wall 21 a which is attached on the side distant to thevehicle inner space, and of a plastic part 21 b with cross-struts or ahoney-comb-like structure, which is arranged towards the vehicleinterior. Details of the front wall outer part are to be seen in FIGS. 4b and 4 c, wherein the screw holes 27 may also be recognised. At thesame time, FIG. 4 b shows a view of the front wall outer part 21 fromthe vehicle interior, FIG. 4 c shows a view from the opposite direction.A reinforcement in the form of a yoke beam 20 with an essentiallyU-shaped cross section is screwed to that side of the front wall outerpart 21 which is distant to the motor vehicle interior. This is screwedto the longitudinal beams 2 a (see also FIG. 4 d with regard to thedetails of the yoke beam). A water box 19 is screwed to the front wallouter part 21, which contains wiper motors 30 (see FIG. 4 e for thewater box).

As a further layering, towards the vehicle interior, an insulation piece18 for sound and thermal insulation is provided which is joined into thefront wall outer part (see FIG. 4 f) Proceeding from this furthertowards the vehicle interior are filter boxes 16 with filters 15contained therein (see FIGS. 4 h and 4 i) for each vehicle side.

A cable loom 17 (see FIG. 4 g) is also connected, which with its lateralrun-outs on the right side and on the left side in the region of theA-columns of the vehicle body 2 is connected to the collectors 14 (seeFIG. 4 j, here the collector on the right side is shown). As a nextlayer, a sub-module for the air-conditioning is connected. Anair-conditioning installation rear wall 11 (see FIG. 4 k) as well as anair-conditioning front wall 9 (see FIG. 4 o) include various parts forair-conditioning the vehicle inner space. These are (separated in eachcase on the left and right side for each vehicle half): an evaporator 12(see FIG. 41), a heating body 13 (see FIG. 4 m) as well as a fan 10 (seeFIG. 4 n). Due to the grouping together of all air-conditioningapparatus into a single sub module, this may be very easily exchanged ormay be realised individually depending on the desires of the customer(alternatives, no air-conditioning installation, air-conditioninginstallation, air-conditioning automatic [device]). Then, defrosterchannels 8 are connected on the left and right side to theair-conditioning installation front wall 9 as well as an air channelsystem 7 (see FIG. 4 p) for air distribution in the inner space.Finally, the front wall inner part 6 is joined which is connected to thefront wall outer part 21 and thus encompasses all those components whichhave just been mentioned. The inner and outer parts of the front wallmay at the same time consists of practically any material, preferablyplastics or sheet metal [pieces].

On the left and right side, reinforcement profiles 31 for accommodatingthe steering column 5 are attached to the front wall inner part. Acontrol unit 3 may be attached below the front wall module 1. On theside of the interior, an outer skin 26 for the trim connects to thefront wall inner part 6 (see also FIG. 4 q). This comprises a discharge27, a middle console 28 as well as a covering [panelling] 29 of thesteering column 5.

Then a steering wheel 32 connects to the steering column 5 (see alsoFIG. 4 r).

1-18. (canceled)
 19. A front wall module of a motor vehicle, comprising:a yoke beam connectable to two longitudinal beams of the motor vehicle,wherein the module includes a functional unit and forms at least oneregion of a front wall of the motor vehicle which delimits an interiorof the motor vehicle.
 20. The module according to claim 19, wherein thefunctional unit includes a fan ventilating the interior of the motorvehicle.
 21. The module according to claim 19, wherein the yoke beam isconnected to a remaining front wall module with a non-positive fit. 22.The module according to claim 19, wherein the yoke beam is connected tothe longitudinal beams with a non-positive fit.
 23. The module accordingto claim 19, wherein the yoke beam has a substantially U-shaped crosssection.
 24. The module according to claim 19, wherein the functionalunit include at least one of a fan ventilating the interior, a filter, aheating body ventilating the interior, an evaporator of anair-conditioning installation, an air channel system, a control unitelectrically controlling elements in the interior, a cable loomconnected to the control unit and an airbag.
 25. The module according toclaim 24, wherein the front wall module includes collectors connected tothe cable loom as electrical interfaces between the front wall moduleand a remaining of the motor vehicle.
 26. The module according to claim25, wherein the collectors are attached at lateral outer sides of thefront wall module.
 27. The module according to claim 19, wherein themodule has a cavity construction with an outer casing, the outer casingbeing formed by a front wall inner part orientated towards the interiorand a front wall outer part distant to the interior.
 28. The moduleaccording to claim 27, wherein at least one of the front wall outer partand the front wall inner part is designed as a hybrid part of metal andplastic.
 29. The module according to the claim 27, wherein the frontwall inner part includes at least one of (i) first receivers for asteering column which control the motor vehicle and (ii) secondreceivers for a dashboard.
 30. The module according to claim 27, whereinthe functional unit is arranged at least partially within the outercasing.
 31. The module according to claim 27, wherein the module has alayered construction, wherein the functional unit includes a pluralityof sub-modules which are layered between the front wall outer part andthe front wall inner part.
 32. The module according to claim 19, furthercomprising: a hollow beam situated in an upper region of the module, thehollow beam stabilizing the module in a region of a windscreen of themotor vehicle.
 33. The module according to claim 19, further comprising:a water box collecting fluid which runs down from a windscreen of themotor vehicle.
 34. A motor vehicle, comprising: a front wall; a frontwall module including a yoke beam coupled to two longitudinal beams ofthe motor vehicle, the module forming at least one region of the frontwall which delimits an interior of the motor vehicle; and a functionalunit situated in the front wall module.
 35. The motor vehicle accordingto claim 34, wherein the module forms an upper part of the front wall.36. The motor vehicle according to claim 35, wherein a lower part of thefront wall has a hollow cross section.
 37. The motor vehicle accordingto claim 34, further comprising: a driver motor situated on a side ofthe front wall which is distant to the interior.